NAB CEO Ross McEwan has said the Federal Government’s 2020 Budget has set the path for Australia’s economic recovery and rebuild from COVID-19, with a clear focus on supporting Australian businesses to lead that effort.
“Business will drive our economic recovery. We must do everything we can to support and strengthen businesses right now and the Budget measures announced by the Government will certainly help to do that as we begin to transition from support to stimulus,” Mr McEwan said.
“In particular, the tax incentives to encourage businesses to invest and wage subsidies to create more jobs will be significant contributors to rebuilding Australia’s economy.
“A focus on research and development has been among the key issues our business customers have raised with us so it’s good to see measures addressing this area.
“Personal income tax cuts and extra payments for age pensioners will put money back in peoples’ hands and we welcome continued efforts to help Australians buy their first home.
“It’s also pleasing to see investment to reenergise industries of high growth potential such as manufacturing, while we know many of our farming customers are dealing with the impacts of drought and the support for them is welcome.
“Getting businesses going again isn’t just the responsibility of governments. Companies like NAB must also step up. We all have a responsibility to do our part to ensure Australia emerges as a stronger global player on the other side of this.”
NAB’s recent support for Australian businesses and the economy has included:
- Employing another 500 business bank roles to drive growth opportunities and support customers in need.
- Launching digital platform Pollinate to help merchant business customers with real-time insights on their business performance.
- Taking action to simplify business merchant pricing and rollout of merchant choice routing.
- Running free webinars for small business owners on cyber security, digital marketing and social media.
- Providing fast access to cashflow capital at a low interest rate through the NAB Business Support Loan (linked to Government SME Guarantee Scheme).
